For spring break this year we headed to Costa Rica, a destination that’s been on our bucket list for a while now. We decided to focus our time in the rain forest and not visit either coast. That just means we’ll have to go back again! We had some flight issues getting out and ended up staying a night in Charlotte, which meant that we lost a day and a half, but what can you do?

The first part of the week we stayed near the volcano Arenal. While the volcano was technically in sight of our house, we never actually saw it because it was covered by clouds the entire time. Apparently that’s pretty typical. We finally got to the house late Sunday night, so didn’t get to see the grounds until the morning, and when we did it was beautiful. There was a lake in the distance and a lush backyard filled with all kinds of birds. There were a ton of different hummingbirds, all much larger than we see at home, Toucans and parakeets.

On Monday we headed out and did a whitewater rafting tour. It was a ton of fun. In our raft we were paired with a father and daughter from Madrid and led by our guide Juan Miguel. It ended up being a little rougher than at least I was expecting, but I’ve also never done it before. We had a blast. Along the way we stopped at a little island and they guides cut up fresh fruit (the fruit all week was the best I’ve ever had), and we also saw a 2-toed sloth in a tree along the way.

After rafting we hopped in buses and they took us back to their basecamp, where they fed us a traditional Costa Rican lunch, the first of many we would have throughout the week. It consists of a protein (chicken, beef, pork, fish), rice, beans, a vegetable and friend plantains.

That evening we had dinner at the house, and headed out the next morning to hike down to one of the better known waterfalls in the area. It was the first of many we saw. The hike down was quick and included a lot of steps. When we got there Dave and Sophie decided to jump in and swim. Lauren and I watched, nice and dry, from the side. They said the current was really hard to swim against, but it was nice and cool. We then had to walk all of those steps back up, which took quite a bit longer.

Later that day we headed to Ecotermales of Fortuna, which are essentially natural hot tubs headed by the volcano. There were a series of pools that were fed by waterfalls, each getting a little cooler as you got further away from the volcano. You can buy a timed ticket to sit in them. We got there a little early and had the place to ourselves for a bit. Apparently there are minerals in the water which are supposed to be good for health. We did enjoy a cocktail while sitting in the water, so maybe it balanced it out?

We had dinner back at the house and had to pack to move on to our next destination the following morning.

The next day we traveled to Monteverde, which was about a three hour drive. On the way, we stopped off for a hike to another waterfall. This one was actually much taller than the one we’d seen earlier, but a little more complicated to get to, and way less touristy. We only saw two other groups of people the entire hike.

We finally made it to our next house and it was an interesting one. We assume it was owned by a musician or other music group because of the way it was designed and that fact that it had a huge amphitheater on the property. It was wild. Also wild was the wildlife. A ton of cool birds again, and also monkeys! They came to visit us on our porch every day, and wanted to get in the house very badly, so we had to be strategic about opening the doors.

The next day we went to an adventure center that had sky bridges above the tree canopy and ziplining. It was a lot chillier than we were expecting, so we definitely weren’t dressed as warmly as we would have liked. The area is called the Cloud Forest, and true to the name, much of it is in the clouds, which means a lot of drizzly rain.

We all walked across the sky bridges, which I did basically because I had no choice. They were incredibly high in the air and swung back and forth a bit when you walked on them. But I sucked it up and did it. However, after that it was time for zip lining and Lauren and I both decided that the bridges were enough for us. We sat and drank some lovely coffee and hot chocolate while Dave and Sophie zip lined. They said it was really cool, but also, they couldn’t see much because they were completely in the clouds.

Before heading back to the house we did another hike through a reserve area. It was incredibly lush and beautiful. And we also ran into almost no other people the entire time. Amazing.

The next day we took a tour of a coffee and cacoa farm. It was the most “educational” thing we did all week, and the girls were not thrilled, but they did get to make their own caramel from cane on the farm, and we all drank coffee from their beans, which was delicious.

That evening we did a night tour of the rain forest. We were with a guide and a group of about 10 people who all had flashlights. We walked through the forest looking for animals that come out at night. We saw a huge tarantula, a few sleeping birds, and a lot of night insects and bugs. Not a jaguar in sight. Actually, our tour guide told us he’d been giving these tours for 20 years and has yet to see one, so we weren’t too hopeful.

On our final full day we did the best hike all week. It took us about 4 hours and was deep into a canyon with about 6 waterfalls along the way. Once we got to the bottom, we hopped on horses that took us back up to the top. Once we got to the top they fed us, a traditional Costa Rican meal of coarse. It was an amazing way to end the week.

I’m already dreaming about getting back there. Maybe checking out the coasts next time. The nature was amazing, the food delicious, and the people welcoming.